What better way to kick off the new year than with the extravaganza that is PAX South!?! From January 23rd to January 25th, join thousands of gamers in the San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas, for an awesome festival of gaming. There’s loads to do for gamers of every persuasion – from the latest esports and futuristic gaming tech, to retro console classics and even tabletop games. PAX South is offering bucket-loads of fun and some fabulous prizes, too – so this event is definitely on the list of 2015 must-sees!

Let’s take a look at a few of the attractions waiting for you.

The Exhibit Hall

The Exhibit Hall is over 100,000 square feet of gaming heaven! It boasts shopping opportunities galore along with stands and displays from gaming companies of all sizes, from the big hitters to small indie developers. You can try out the latest games, consoles, and gaming tech or relive your youth with a wide selection of retro classics. Get a sneak peak at as-yet unreleased games and meet with the developers. Ask them questions, tell them what you think of their offerings, or just say “hi”. A little bit like E3, except that it’s for gaming fans – not just industry professionals, the PAX South Exhibit Hall boasts a unique atmosphere and is one of the most popular attractions at the event.

Image courtesy of playbuzz.com

Panels

Now, panels aren’t for everyone – but check the schedule here because there’s loads of different panels on offer covering an array of awesome stuff – from webseries to developer talks and Q&A sessions. Come and meet some popular developers and join in the discussion about the future of gaming or discuss the future of MMORPGs.

Console Freeplay

Indulge your passion for console gaming with the unique atmosphere of PAX in the console freeplay hall. You can try out a huge library of games, from brand new releases to ancient but brilliantly fabulous retro classics. Play on your choice of console, from next gen models to golden oldies. Opt to play alone, join a LAN game, go up against your neighbours, or make friends with them and launch a co-op campaign.

Image courtesy of sporcle

PC Gaming Area

For those not totally in love with all things console, join in the fun in the PC gaming area, where you have access to a plethora of games on the latest gaming PCs with state of the art tech and peripherals.

Handheld Gaming Lounge

For those who want to relax and play, the handheld gaming lounge is a great choice. You can relax on comfy sofas or well-stuffed bean bags with the handheld console of your choice, from the original Gameboy to the latest DS.

Tabletop Gaming

When you want to take a break from the digital world, join in the classic fun of the tabletop gaming area. Games of all types, from D&D type RPGs to boardgame classics, the tabletop gaming area is oodles of fun and really engaging. Experience the thrill of tabletop gaming and destroy your opponents while looking them in the eye!

Competitions

There’s a whole bunch of competitions to enjoy, too. You can join in or simply watch and cheer on your favourite competitors. There’s so many going on, we simply cannot list them! But there are comps in tabletop gaming, console gaming, pc gaming, and cosplay. Not to mention the highly anticipated OMEGATHON.

What is the OMEGATHON you ask? Well, many feel it’s the highlight of the whole event. It sees 20 randomly-selected individuals to compete in a series of gaming rounds. The games are all random, and most are “far out”. There’s no quick StarCraft match up here. Oh no! The games can be anything from obscure console titles from the 80s to giant motion-sensitive claw machines or never-released games. While the round games are announced before the event, the final game is a secret until match time! The winner receives a trip to Japan, while the runner up receives a ticket to PAX South for 2016.

So, the question is why wouldn’t you want to go? There’s something for literally everyone who has ever played a game!

Those are your final eight contestants in this year’s global finals. We’re getting down to the stages of the tournament where giants are being knocked out of the fray and new legends arise in their place. We’ve had Jaedong go out 3-2 against Bomber, Polt suffer the same fate to Classic and the man who’s dominated the WCS global rankings all year – HyuN, get sent home by INnoVation 3-1. The grand final is always going to be stacked, and this year is no exception, resulting in only one of the round of sixteen matches ending in a complete whitewash. The competition was stiff and it showed in the performance of all who are fighting it out to become King of StarCraft in 2014. But going forward, there’s still a battle royale to get there.

Bomber [T] vs. MMA [T]

Ironically, the last time these two Terran’s played each other was one year ago in the round of sixteen at the BlizzCon Finals in 2013. Bomber came out on top 3-2 and made it all the way to the semi finals. But both of these players are coming from a pretty decent winning streak. Bomber just claiming back-to-back Red Bull Battlegrounds victories including the finals in Atlanta. On the other hand, MMA is our most recent WCS EU champion and the winner of DreamHack: Moscow merely a few short weeks beforehand. Though both of these players are equally lovable, our prediction has to be with Bomber purely because of his track record against MMA, standing at 8-4.

herO [P] vs. Classic [P]

This is a series with much less history behind it: having only met twice before, yet in the same tournament – Proleague ‘12-’13 Season 1. Both times herO was the victor, however as it was only a best of one it still leaves us with little to work with. Casting further doubt as to who will move on to the next round is the fact that both of these Protoss’ worst match is PvP. Classic does have the technical advantage with a 2.62% higher win rate in this mirror match up, but it’s certainly not convincing enough to make a definitive call. If I had to choose a single winner out of these two it would have to be Classic, but that’s purely down to the fact he has a GSL championship this year and very little else. herO started the year pretty strongly winning IEM but hasn’t really performed in the GSL and that makes me wonder whether he can truly stand the test of not only Classic, but all of the remaining players at BlizzCon.

San [P] vs. Life [Z]

With our last remaining Zerg of the year, Life is the final hope for the Queen of Blades. ZvP is only narrowly not his worst match up (by only a 0.19% margin), however these two have seen each other seven times before and Life has won six of those encounters. The aggregate score between the two is 10-2 in favour of the Zerg and that’s a hefty bat to swing going into the quarter finals. Outside of this series though San has been putting in work this year to get himself as far as he has, with six top four finishes in Premier tournaments this year he’s no stranger to the round of eight. As strange as it sounds, my final prediction is going to have to go with San – they’ve only met four times this year, and he won the latest game they played at IEM less than two weeks ago. I can’t see Life winning this tournament and I feel that it may affect him as he probably knows that too. This isn’t an easy call, but San, we’re voting for you.

Taeja [T] vs. INnoVation [T]

This rivalry is one of the most contentious of all in StarCraft II history. These two Koreans have met each twelve times before, with their aggregate score coming in at 11-17 in favour of Taeja. That figure actually pairs these two closer than you think; Taeja has won eight out of the twelve matches these two have played against each other – with the score only being 11-17 a lot of those matches went to the final game, being very close indeed. This does mean that Taeja has the tendency to win in longer series, however it similarly means that choosing a clear prediction proves difficult. INnoVation however will have something to prove, as he has lost to Taeja more times in his career than any other single player.

There’s a lot more data to look at in this series, and hardly enough time in this piece to look at it all sufficiently. Taeja has shown significant promise all throughout the year, being the first Terran to win a Premier tournament waiting until June to claim that title. But INnoVation has proven his worth in GSL this year and is even our latest champion. He’s won three different Invitationals and has all-killed the likes of Evil Geniuses and Team Axiom. For the final prediction I’m going to have to go with INnoVation, mainly because of the GSL win and the fact that Taeja hasn’t had a tournament victory since July so his play in the later half of this year isn’t necessarily up to the standard of his earlier performances.

With just one day to go until the start of the latest Insomnia 53 festival, we thought we’d give you the scoop on this awesome event! Since its inception in 1999, the Insomnia gaming festival, which is the largest in the UK, has grown exponentially. It attracts visitors from all over the world, and there esports competitions attract plenty of big names. Aside from the esports tournaments – there’s loads of other events and competitions taking place this year – there’s just so much to do!

eSports

Of course, esports is a massive part of the event – and there are a huge selection across all three days. We have: League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2, Hearthstone, COS: Advanced Warfare, and Halo 2: Anniversary.

You can see the GiffGaff LoL final on Friday at 6.30 GMT, while the finals for the other games all occur on Sunday afternoon and evening.

Other Comps

For those who want to do something other than esports, you can compete in the cosplay contest, or the card tournaments – which include Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Cardfight!! Vanguard tournament.

BYOC

Bring Your Own Console! Whether it’s a pc, mac, laptop, or a console, bring it along and set it up in the BYOC LAN halls. Game to your heart’s content. This is also a great option for retro gamers. Team up with others via a LAN, or play alone. The choice is yours!

The Exhibition Hall

The exhibition hall is the main event – and is full of exciting things! There are free-to-enter tournaments, trade stands, consoles to try out, and pre-release editions of games to try. You can also shop the awesome retail area. The Exhibition Stage is home this year to an array of special guests, live shows, and exhibitors. This year, exhibitors include, but are not limited to: Game, Razer, Chill Blast, We Got Games, Gamereactor, Ultra Gaming Bus, and Riot Games.

Awesome Extras

And that’s not all! Aside from all that excitement, you can play in the retro gaming hall, complete with classic consoles, games, and even monitors, featuring more than 30 years’ worth of classic gaming history. Alternatively, head to the Indie zone where you can try out some of the very best Indie games around – and chat to the developers and studio representatives. Want a break from electronics? Head to the Tabletop Gaming Zone where you can interact with other players while you play card games and board games of all kinds! You can also check out the dedicated Minecraft zone – where there’s prizes to be won and games to be played. And – don’t forget to catch the panel talks and meet and greet sessions with some BIG names from around the industry!

We at DingIt will be tweeting live from the event – and we’ll be posting some awesome pics! We’ll be covering the live events, so be sure to follow us. Keep an eye on the blog, too, as we’ll be doing some awesome write-ups!